Digital Literacy

The National Association of Counties (NACo), which represents all of America's 3,069 county governments, seeks to work with our federal partners to develop a substantive farm bill to strengthen federal resources that allow counties to make critical investments in our nation's most underserved populations. Counties support bridging the Digital Divide as a key recommendation for the 2023 Farm Bill.  According to the Federal Communications Commission, approximately 14.5 million Americans lack access to broadband speeds of at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload, with 11 mi

There is a persistent and well-known gap between rural and urban populations in terms of their internet usage.

The Illinois Office of Broadband and the University of Illinois System announced the launch of the Connect Illinois Broadband and Digital Equity Planning Initiative. This year-long local coordination, engagement, and planning project will enable the state to receive the historic federal Digital Equity (DE) and Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program funds in 2024 and 2025, respectively. The initiative will leverage growing capacity within the Illinois Broadband Lab, which leverages $12.5 million in state and federal funding to support and sustain current programming

Technology is increasingly at the center of our lives. And as our dependence on the internet and digital communications increases, our workforce must keep up with the evolving skill demand. Despite the high demand for digital skills and the desire for skill-building opportunities among workers, many have not had the opportunity to fully develop such skills. The digital skill divide is the space between those who have the robust access and support needed to engage in skill-building opportunities and those who do not.

The US Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration awarded $301,030 to the Colorado State University (CSU) System for a planning grant to promote and enhance economic development in rural Colorado.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it has awarded Universidad del Sagrado Corazón a $2,978,187.00 grant from the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (CMC). This grant will help fund Universidad del Sagrado Corazón’s "Accessing Broadband Connectivity (ABC): A Pilot Project Catalyst in a Hispanic Institution and Communities Setting." The project aims to expand educational instruction and remote learning opportunities, spur economic development, and create opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship by buildi

EducationSuperHighway released LearnACP, a new training course and certification for states, cities, and community-based organizations working to increase awareness and adoption of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

Only a few blocks separate Amarillo’s lively, bustling downtown area from the city’s historic El Barrio district. While much of the city has spotty internet, residents in El Barrio are almost completely disconnected. The residents are determined to give current and future families more than the bare minimum.

One of the most striking developments of the last decade has been the rapid “digitalization” of work—and with it, an urgent demand for skill-building. Digitalization is the infusion of digital skills (though not necessarily higher-end software coding) into the texture of almost every job in the economy. And it has inordinate power to both empower workers or divide them. That’s because gaps in access to digital skills engender disparate access to the nation’s best-paying, most desirable jobs and industries.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic began, policymakers, businesses, and workforce advocates were already recognizing that workers were not being replaced by robots, but rather, being called upon to work hand-in-glove with rapidly evolving technology. Now — as leaders design labor market policies to drive a thriving and inclusive economy — it is imperative to understand this digital transformation. The analysis finds the following: